Trial over downing of MH17 to start in March 2020

"We are finalizing an extensive digital case file. We expect to be able to hand this file to the court before the end of the year. The criminal proceedings will take place at the extra-security Schiphol Criminal Justice Complex. The criminal proceedings will start on March 9, 2020, at 10:00," Dutch chief prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said.

Everything has already been prepared for the consideration of the MH17 case. All criminal procedures necessary for the transfer of the case to the court are currently being completed. The Schiphol court complex, located about 50 kilometers from The Hague and a few kilometers from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, can seat about a thousand people – trial participants, relatives of the victims, and media representatives.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by Russian armed groups in occupied Donbas on July 17, 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crewmembers on board the aircraft. All of them died.

The JIT reported that flight MH17 had been shot down from the Buk missile system belonging to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

In May 2018, the Netherlands and Australia officially accused Russia of its involvement in the MH17 crash.

op